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As a California resident don't you think it is unfair to the voters who vote 49% to keep Davis to then put in office a person who only gets 34% of the electorate voting?

That is not what democracy is all about is it? How would you feel if your candidate got 49% and lost to someone who only got 34% of the vote?

You may have this enshrined in your law in California but please get this changed.

I had this discussion recently with a friend who made an argument similar to yours, saying that petition signatures are not equivalent to votes. My POV is that the recall mechanism itself was voted on by the public in 1911 -- is that vote somehow less important than votes for an elected official? All politicians have known the recall mechanism is present for the better part of the last 100 years. The sheer difficulty of getting a recall on the ballot (this is the first time it's happened for governor, after many tries, including Ronald Reagan in 1968) offers an element of protection. My view is the threat of recall should always be hanging over politicians' heads. It is a means of protection for the people, but I see it as no threat to democracy. The next governor is, after all, democratically elected.

This all calls to mind the quote by Thomas Jefferson:
"The spirit of resistance to government is so valuable on certain occasions, that I wish it to be always kept alive. It will often be exercised when wrong, but better so than not to be exercised at all. I like a little rebellion now and then. It is like a storm in the atmosphere." (To Abigail Adams, 1787.)

As a California resident don't you think it is unfair to the voters who vote 49% to keep Davis to then put in office a person who only gets 34% of the electorate voting?

That is not what democracy is all about is it? How would you feel if your candidate got 49% and lost to someone who only got 34% of the vote?

When Gray Davis is recalled, it will be because 20% of is own voters wanted to get rid of him.

Not only is that "enshrined" in CA law, but it has been challenged by Davis through the entire court system and found valid.

Here is the point -- the RECALL ballot question and the "NEW GOVERNOR" question on the ballot are seperate questions. Period.

If Californians, in compliance with the state Constitution, complete a majority vote to remove the current governor from office, then that question is settled.

Your point that Davis may lose to someone getting 35% of the vote is incorrect and is faulty logic. Davis will have lost to "NO MORE DAVIS." That is what he is _LITERALLY_ "running against."

To continue the point, _IF_ Davis is removed, then if say, Peter Camejo were to win amongst the candidates for Governor -- Camejo would *not* have "beaten Davis." He would have defeated the various 100+ other candidates but NOT Davis -- Davis is running aginst "NO MORE DAVIS." That is a proper extrapolation of the ballot.

If you don't like the State Constitution, fine. I'm guessing you don't like the USA Constitution either, since a similar argument ("how would you feel if...") could be made about the 2000 presidential election.

"As a California resident don't you think it is unfair to the voters who vote 49% to keep Davis to then put in office a person who only gets 34% of the electorate voting?"

I'm not a California resident but I don't think its unfair at all. You are considering two different elections here. On the recall if more than 50% of the voters want a new governor, then they can elect a new governor. In this case a lot of candidates are running, the percent of the votes the winner receives is a function, in part, of how many people are running. If only two were running the winner would have a higher percentage than the 49% no recall vote.

Please take the time to understand the rules before you try to reqrite them:
Recall is an up or down vote, period, simple, clean.

Replacement is a run-off between over a hundred people, at least three of whom are serious contenders and none of whom is the guy being recalled or not being recalled. The one with the most votes (out of three and then some) wins, period, simple, clean.

Jesus H. Christ would not pull 51% of a vote out of a hundred candidate pack and VERY few mere humans would be able to do it out of a three person field.